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Don’t Be Afraid To Fail You’ve failed many times, although you may not remember. You fell the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you? Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot. R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on. English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books. Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. Don’t worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. –Wall Street Journal Frequent Excuses That Cause Failure There is no cause for failure in Christian living more serious than the following excuses often heard by professed Christians. Have you used any of them recently? 1. I am waiting for… 2. That’s the way we have always done it. 3. That’s not my job. 4. I forgot! 5. I didn’t think that was important. 6. I am so busy that I cannot do it. 7. Everybody else does it. 8. God does not require all this. 9. We are doing all right. 10. I thought… ( Taken from February 1960, Searching the Scriptures)(Editor’s Note: I came across the above while perusing Searching the Scriptures which caused me to think about failure and how success can be obtained.) Failure and How to Avoid It Or Success and How to Obtain It Properly Define Failure and Success . Christians often improperly define these two words. They equate the results of their efforts to their success or failure rate. For instance, they invite numerous people to a Gospel Meeting only to have no one to come. They feel as if they have failed. However, they did everything they could do and God recognizes their efforts in spreading the Gospel. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3.6). There are things such as the heart of those around us, which we can not control. It is the word of God that converts people not our dynamic personality or charm. Success in personal evangelism is going out and inviting people to worship services, or conducting Bible studies.Doing nothing preferred to failing (see above point on defining failure.). Some congregations and people are so afraid of failing that they do nothing. Doing nothing is easy and easy to justify to ourselves. The one talented man explained his actions in Matthew 25.25, "And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours." This servant was judged as wicked and lazy by his master. Will we be held any less accountable before God? How many people justify not trying to teach, lead singing, pray, help others, etc. by saying they were afraid. Welcome to the club! Most are afraid, especially the first time they teaching. We do not fail when we try or make mistakes; Failure is when we do not try.I don’t see any thing wrong with it verses having Bible authority. To act without proper authority is to fail. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them. ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" (Matthew 7.21-23). Despite the teaching of this passage many brethren feel free to act without proper Bible authority. Those in the institutional church argue as long as it is a "good work" it must be right. Those in the conservative church simply say "I don’t see anything wrong with it." Not seeing anything wrong is not Bible authority. King Saul did not see anything wrong with sparing the best livestock of the Amalekites and the king, in order to offer a sacrifice to God. Samuel met King Saul and told him what was wrong with it, it was rebellion! "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Samuel 15.22b-23a). David saw no wrong with placing the Ark of the Covenant on a cart and transporting it. However, he acted contrary to the way God had specified for the ark to be moved. It resulted in the death of Uzzah when he touched the ark as the oxen stumbled, see 2 Samuel 6.6. There are many things we may "see anything wrong with" but if it is without divine authority it is wrong. Only by doing what the Bible authorizes can we succeed. Using passages as a pretext instead of rightly dividing the word of God insures failure. Paul instructed Timothy to study the word of God, 2 Timothy 2.15. Understanding the context of the passage and what it is teaching comes from study. Taking passages referring to individual action and applying it to the church is wrong just as doing the reverse is wrong. We can not justify congregational action by turning to verses pertaining to individual action yet I know brethren to do just that. Institutional brethren say what pertains to the individual applies to the congregation. If so then congregations can marry, invest in businesses, purchase businesses, and do a host of other ventures. One can not justify a congregation investing its money by going to Matthew 25 where individuals used the money of their master to make more money. Instead of trying to justify ourselves let us use the Bible to discern God’s will then we can succeed in obeying Him. I am afraid many fail while others succeed and do not realize it. D. T. |